High Execution Planning

Steps to move from Planning to Execution

By Kordell Norton

©Copyright 2007, All rights reserved

 

 

A multimillion dollar salary.  That is what you want.  Looking at the earnings of the top executives of the Fortune 500 companies, one wonders what they are doing that makes them so valuable.

 

The answer is EXECUTION.  They have the ability of making things happen in their organization.  They have a history of making sure their resources perform.  For this they are compensated well. 

 

They take the practices of setting goals, making strategic plans, and creating mission statements and make sure they are implemented. 

 

Is there a secret they have that you don’t know about? 

 

Yes.  They have very efficient planning for execution events.  Let’s call these HEP sessions.  High Execution Planning (HEP) sessions are meetings where the key players in a business or organization meet to correlate their resources and strategies for the next year, or more often, the next quarter.

 

Go with me to a meeting room.  It is probably at a hotel, Country Club, or resort.  The location is away from the traditional office so the participants can focus on the meeting and not the everyday interruptions.  In one recent survey it was found that the average cost of a one day planning session is about $50,000.  This cost, in addition to the importance of the HEP meeting, mandates rules on interruptions.  More on interruptions later.

 

At the head of the table is the executive in charge.  In the room are the reporting managers and the heads of the supporting departments.  For our example, in our imaginary meeting, we have 5 division managers who have sales responsibilities by product line or geographic area.  Also at the table are the heads of Human Resources, Accounting, I.T. and the head of manufacturing. 

 

Prior to the meeting the heads of the various groups have had meetings with their subordinates and done research on their specific sales, performance by groups, the competition and trends in the market place.  All of this information is gathered along with a set of preliminary strategies to meet future goals, based on their research.  These strategic plans are 80% to 95% finished as they are looking for approval from the boss and/or help from other departments. 

 

The head of the organization starts the meeting with the ground rules.

 

Ground Rules

1.         This is serious

 

Take the yearly budget/quota and divide it by 4 and you get an idea of how many dollars are at stake.  The story is told of one executive who started his HEP sessions with the statement, “No Jokes.  This is too serious to be taken lightly.”  These sessions are all business.  Participants are expected to be there physically and mentally.  If someone is presenting their plans for the next year or quarter and they need your assistance, you better be there.  If a regional sales manager needs to hire a new key team player and HR isn’t there to support that plan. . . then it is a wasted meeting and holds up the performance of the company.   If a new product rollout is dependant on some technology reports and capabilities, then the I.T. efforts will need to be correlated.  

 

Look at the salaries that are being spent for the meeting alone.  No wonder many organizations have consultants involved, experts on change who can give guidance and insights from their outsider perspective.  When you consider salaries, meeting room costs, and operating budgets you see why the expense spent on an outside consultant is often the smallest cost component of the meeting.

 

2.         Top down driven

 

One recent survey shows that 2/3 of all employees feel management isn’t listening.  This can NOT occur in a HEP session.  As the reporting managers share the plans for EXECUTION, top management better be there to support, give counsel, guide, and assign additional resources.  This is not the time to “think about it”.  This is time to act.  This is business.

 

3.         Minimize interruptions

 

Technology is limited.  A cell phone call that requires your attention can hold up everyone else in the meeting.  Paying attention to a Blackberry, email or a laptop with all of its diversions should not be part of these meetings. 

 

Participants make sure they get enough sleep the night before so you are sharp.  Turn off the television, cut back on recreation if it is going to make you less than sharp for the HEP session.   

 

4.         Have all of your information and materials

 

If it can’t be measured, can it really be improved?  Participants need to come prepared with the information used to determine future directions.  These include:

·           Past performance (historical data)

·           Current performance information

·           The competition and their information

How this information is communicated and gathered various by organization.  In one organization this information is in PowerPoint, others it is in a 3-Ring binder. 

 

5.         Have a clear set of your Critical Issues

 

This meeting is not the Vision Statement meeting.  The focus here is the strategies and systems that need to be put in place to make the business run.  In order to get the right strategies the first step is to determine Critical Issues.  Critical issues are created by re-wording goals in a question format.  See: http://www.kordellnorton.com/critical_issues-Guidelines.htm

 

6.         Right Strategies for the future

 

Based on the answers to the Critical Issues and the insights of each manager, they should come to the meeting with their strategies.  A standardized SMART format (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely – see example below) is common in most business.  The columns may differ but the breaking down of individual focus and actions allows everyone to have a common vocabulary.  (see below)

  

As the individual participants share their strategies the key activity of the meeting occurs . . . Correlation.   This is the connecting of activities and departments and getting everyone “on the same sheet of music”.  This occurs during the sharing of strategies as the activities of different departments are coordinated.     In addition, management reviews and approves the activities and strategies of the individual business units and managers. 

 

The old discussion about which is more important, the end goal or the journey.  To the climber of Mt. Everest, the summit (goal) is very important.  To the person who is crossing the Sahara desert, the shorter term goal of not dying that day may eclipse the goal of reaching the other side.  

 

The HEP process focuses on both.  The end result but with the caveat that getting through the journey with your fellow travelers is equally important.  Both the goal and the journey become the focus of execution.  

 

Hence the name. . . .High Execution Planning. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Kordell Norton - The Top Line Guy

Your organization has a strong interest in the "top line" for growth. As a consultant, speaker, author, Kordell Norton works with corporate, association, education and government organizations who want to focus on branding, sales, marketing, strategic planning/leadership, team building, and customer service.

Kordell was an executive with several multi-billion dollar corporations with executive suite positions in sales, HR, marketing and call centers. As a certified Graphic Facilitator, he uses highly visual processes, along with humor, and entertaining methods for powerful, high energy presentations.

Author of Throwing Gas on the Fire - creating drastic change in Sales and Marketing

He can be reached at (330) 405-1950 or at kordell@kordellnorton.com or at his website -  www.KordellNorton.com